It sure seems like a good idea. The biggest computer retail chain or smallest mom and pop store could sell a range of software while dedicating only a few square feet of floor space to the effort. But it’s taking a long time to get going – maybe, just maybe, things will happen this summer.
About three years ago, Protocall Technologies announced Software ToGo, a burn-to-order software distribution system. A customer would select the software they desired by using a small, LCD-based stand-alone kiosk and get a bar-coded order ticket in return. The customer then would take the ticket to a cashier and pay for the software.
The ticket would be used to tell an order- fulfillment station what the customer had bought. The order-fulfillment station would use a secure Internet connection to get a key to unlock a copy of the desired software on a disk drive in the station and burn the software onto a CD on the spot. The station also would print full-color inserts for the CD case and a set of quick-start instructions, complete with a unique serial number and “certificate of authenticity.”
The clerk would assemble the package and hand it to the customer. The burning and assembly process should take less than 5 minutes. Protocall Technologies has at least one U.S. patent (5,784,460) related to the system.
The press releases on the Protocall Technologies Web site show that some high-profile companies were going to test the system, including Office Depot and Radio Shack. But the site does not have any information on how those trials went. The most recent development seems to be that CompUSA will deploy the system in its stores this summer, according to Apple Computers.
If the system works as advertised, CompUSA could “stock” a far wider range of software, including old or eclectic titles, than it otherwise could. But the system’s success will heavily depend on getting a wide range of software publishers to sign up. Protocol Technologies’ Web site says that “Software ToGo carries products from close to 90% of the top-selling software publishers” without saying how many titles are carried from each publisher or who the publishers are.
Software is not the only material that is suitable for a burn-on-demand system. A few baby steps are under way for burn-on-demand custom-mix music CDs. Sony Music seems to be experimenting with the idea, but as a burn-and-ship service rather than an in-store system. Sony has set up a Web site where you can build your own Bob Dylan CD, but with a quite limited repertoire, only one or two songs from 35 of Dylan’s 46 albums. Sony then will ship the CD to you.
I hope that both of these ideas are successful and temporary. The first application, software delivery, can already be done quite well over broadband Internet and should be done that way far more often in the future. The second application, music delivery, is waiting for music publishers to understand that there is an Internet they can use, not just fight.
Disclaimer: Harvard uses physical self-delivery of its main product, educated students, and has not expressed an opinion about using the Internet instead.
